Battery breakthrough could slash electric vehicle charge time, say researchers

A team of Scottish scientists have developed a new energy storage technology that could see electric vehicles charge-up in just seconds.

The technology consists of a flow battery system that utilises a nano-molecule that can store electric power or hydrogen gas in a hybrid energy storage system, according to the scientists from the University of Glasgow.

Leroy Cronin, who led the research, said high capacity and flexible energy storage systems were needed to smooth out the peaks and troughs in supply to make future renewables effective.

"Our approach will provide a new route to do this electrochemically and could even have application in electric cars where batteries can still take hours to recharge and have limited capacity,” he said.

Taking the form of a nano-molecule-infused pumpable liquid, the technology could allow for the release of power on demand in a manner that would fuel cars and negate a long charging process.

In a process that would involve fresh liquid replacing old battery liquid, cars could be ‘charged’ in a similar amount of time to filling a vehicle with petrol.

However, the technology, which is tailpipe emission free, is far more expensive than current methods for recharging electric vehicles.

“The very high energy density of our material could increase the range of electric cars, and also increase the resilience of energy storage systems to keep the lights on at times of peak demand,” said Cronin.